Pop and Rock Chart Archive and Music Encyclopedia

Christmas and Holiday Songs

From the 1905 recording of
Silent Night
by Hayden Quartet (aka Haydn Quartet) and the 1908 recording of the song by the official record company Victor Orchestra, to the 2013 popular
version of
Blue Christmas by
Kelly Clarkson,
Christmas songs have been a staple of recorded music, traditional and modern.
Here is a Tune Timeline of hundreds of the most popular Christmas and holiday classics of all time.

Then there was Bing Crosby. The
popular song list by Bing Crosby,
first in the 1920s with Paul Whiteman Orchestra then for decades solo,
remains far ahead of any other singer to this day.
Among these recordings, in 1942, was a then old Irving Berlin composition called
White Christmas.
When Bing Crosby sang it, he made it the most famous Christmas song of all time.
This was one of many
Bing Crosby Christmas songs.

At the very beginning of the 1970s,
The Jackson 5
brothers broke through with four number one songs in a row.
The group quickly brought its popular mix of funk, soul, and dance to Christmas songs including the
Nat King Cole classic
The Christmas Song.

Although brother and sister act
Carpenters
burst onto the popular music scene back in 1970, Carpenters did not make its long-awaited Christmas songs album Christmas Portrait until 1978.
This album included the already classic Merry Christmas, Darling, and many traditional songs, including the medley
Winter Wonderland/Silver Bells/White Christmas.

In the early 1990s, Christian singer
Amy Grant
crossed-over to become a major pop star.
In 1992, she came out with her popular Christmas album, Home For Christmas.
Her dreamy version of
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
was well received by all.

The 1990s were all about
Mariah Carey.
In addition to smashing many pop music records, she released her first Christmas album, Merry Christmas,
in 1994, to great fanfare with traditional Christmas music and modern Christmas classics too.
Her original Christmas song,
All I Want For Christmas Is You,
co-written with Walter Afanasieff, reached
number 16
on the pop chart. The song has already been recorded by many others.

The late 2000s gave us new Christmas albums by
Keith Sweat, Faith Hill,
and other famous groups and artists.
Also, new singing sensations
were created through exposure on
television
contest programs like American Idol. One winner,
Susan Boyle,
mesmerized us with
Silent Night.